A known FMC Technologies juice extractor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,649,730 to Hait, and assigned to the present assignee, the disclosure which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. In this vertically arranged juice extractor, upper and lower cups support a fruit, vegetable or similar product. The sides of both upper and lower cups have fingers that interdigitate together. The upper cup descends into the lower cup against the fruit or vegetable and is pressed against a circular, lower cutter positioned at the top of a strainer tube adjacent the lower cup and an upper cutter positioned in the upper cup. Plugs are cut into the top and bottom portions of the fruit as the interdigitating fingers of the two cups mesh together. Inner portions of the fruit, such as the pulp and juice, are forced down into the strainer tube positioned within a manifold.
An orifice tube moves upward into the strainer tube and applies pressure within the internal portion of the strainer tube to separate juice and pulp within the strainer tube. Juice and juice sacks flow through holes of the strainer tube and into a juice manifold. Those internal portions of the fruit having particle sizes larger than the holes in the strainer tube are forced through a discharge opening in the orifice tube and then discharged.
Window-type orifice tubes, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,175 and published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 2002-0166465-A1, the disclosures which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, use “windows” formed in the orifice tube to engage the fruit or vegetable and enhance juice recovery. In the published '465 patent application, a two-piece orifice tube has a screw-in, hardened window portion. The orifice tube described in the '175 patent is stainless steel with an outer plastic sleeve. Some commercial improvements to an orifice tube coat the external surface of the tube with a stellite alloy and machine the tube after coating it to increase wear resistance on the external surface.
In the past, FMC Technologies has made a solid orifice tube, meaning no restrictor inserted therein, having three surface portions on its end face. A radially innermost beveled surface portion had a bevel angle of 60°, an intermediate beveled surface portion had a bevel angle of 120°, and an outermost surface portion was flat. The radially innermost and intermediate surface portions together defined the pressure-applying end surface of the orifice tube. The radially outermost flat surface portion provided a ring-support surface for the orifice tube, for supporting an adjacent split ring of the extractor. The innermost beveled surface and outermost surface each comprised about 10% of the wall thickness of the tube, while the intermediate beveled surface comprised the remaining 80%.
In other configurations of the FMC Technologies juice extractor, a restrictor tube is used in the bore of the orifice tube. The restrictor permits adjustment for different fruit that may be available at different times of the year. In other words, different sized restrictor tubes can be changed out and used at different times of the year, for example. The orifice tube included three surface portions as described above, but with slightly different proportions. More particularly, the radially innermost beveled surface portion was about 25%, the intermediate beveled surface portion about 50%, and the outermost flat ring-support surface portion about 25% of the total wall thickness. The wall thickness of the orifice tube for use with a restrictor was also typically less than for the solid orifice tube embodiments.
The restrictor tube had an innermost beveled surface portion of 60°, and an outermost beveled surface portion of 120°. The innermost beveled surface extended over about 40% of the wall thickness of the restrictor tube, and the outermost beveled surface extended over the remaining 60%. There was no flat ring-support surface portion on the end of the restrictor tube.
The yield of juice from the fruit is an important component of processing efficiency, and, hence, commercial success. There is a continuing need to improve juice yield and while still maintaining high quality of the juice.